How to restore a cast iron bath on your own?

When you buy a new bathtub, you have a bright shine and whiteness in your eyes.. Taking a bath in this design is a delight in all the greatness of cleanliness and aesthetics. But then your delight begins to slowly fade away, as soon as you notice the appearance of rusty stains and other indelible deposits. Sadly, stunning and reliable cast iron bathtubs have a strong tendency to turn into dirty troughs when they lose their aesthetic appeal. And then different cleaning products promise you to restore the coating and you clean, clean and clean your bathtub again. Something after that changes in her appearance for the better, and something for the worse. For example, paint starts to peel off. In general, when your bathtub completely loses its appearance, you decide that you need to buy a bathtub again. But is it cheaper than restoring the old one? No, of course, it’s cheaper to restore an old bathroom that you love so much than to run to a plumbing store for a new one..

By the way, experts note that many people throw away old bathtubs, even if they are slightly damaged. And this is in our country, where family budgets are always on a strict economy diet.!

How to update a bath yourself?

1. Before painting the bath, you need to prepare the coating. First, using a spatula, you need to dig in the spaces between the bathroom and the walls, removing the seals and grout, then clean the taps. After that, the bath itself is cleaned of everything that may interfere with the adhesion of the new finish. The first step is to remove plaque from the bath with an abrasive tool, then you can walk with a tool that is usually used to remove wax from the floor. After this product, in order to wash away its traces, you need to clean the bath with a citric acid-based detergent. Then rinse everything, dry it and rub the dry surface with pure alcohol.

2. If there are cracks or chips on the bathtub, then putty with fiberglass is applied to this surface. Imagine fixing a scratch on a car. When the fiberglass has hardened, sand it with 36 grit sandpaper to remove the height. Then sand it with 80 grit paper to level the surface. Any cracks in the applied putty, according to the same principle and the same process, are treated with a polyester putty over.

3. Wipe the surface with a cloth and apply a primer to help hold the acrylic enamel in place. Some professionals create roughness on the surface and hydrofluoric acid helps them in this, but this acid requires proper neutralization after use. Flushing it down the drain can damage the pipes, and it’s not good for the environment either. Therefore, we use a primer, not an acid..

4. When the primer is dry, begin to apply the acrylic urethane enamel. This must be done with a spray bottle. In this case, it is better to be in a special suit and protect your lungs from inhaling paint components. It is necessary to apply 3 coats of enamel with a spray gun in the interval of 10-15 minutes between each coat. Then using infrared lamps, the finish will dry in about an hour. Wet sanding with 1000 grit sandpaper comparing unevenness and roughness. Then we wipe the surface with paper towels. Can be waxed for shine.

If you do not have a spray gun, you can use a regular brush, but this will give worse results than if you steal with a spray.

What we would like to add to this beauty recipe for your bath?

Rebuilding a cast iron bath can be the most practical way to repair it. A new bathroom not only needs to be bought, but also reinstalled — and this is an insane amount of money. Bath repairs will cost you significantly less. But, if you doubt your own abilities, the Proektstroy portal encourages you to hire a specialist for this type of work. The master, depending on his affiliation to a particular company, will charge you from 2000 rubles for renewing the enamel. Despite the fact that even the cheapest cast-iron bath from an unknown manufacturer costs from 2,600 thousand rubles. In addition, for sure in the circle of your acquaintances there is a person who has a friend who understands these works. Thus, the price for the reconstruction of the bathtub, which is more acceptable than the purchase of a new one, is much more profitable for your budget..

The Proektstroy portal wishes your bathtub to shine and have the most pleasant snow-white color!